First Impressions
by GenesisArclite
Summary: Caius and Lightning meet in Valhalla for the first time. There might be just a little tension in the air, and maybe a touch of flirting involved. Caius x Lightning, one-shot.


**_First Impressions_**

_Is that him?_

She had heard his voice at her back, only to turn and discover he had disappeared. Though she had seen all of history in a heartbeat, even glimpsing his face, she couldn't be sure until she saw it, alive and breathing. Swarms of beasts from this near-timeless realm flew toward her in the storm-gray light; her eyes were fixed on the figure standing in the waters on the crystal-laden beach. That had to be him. It was a dark figure, inky against the glowing sea, with faint purple markings visible from here. Barely.

As her sword appeared in her hand, she put on a warrior's face, but she was curious, too. She knew she had condemned herself to this place. There was no way out now without killing him, and killing him would bring the world to a crashing end, so… she couldn't do that. Her curiosity was about this strange man, this ancient warrior, even as she sprang off the balcony onto her loyal steed to face him.

_His name. His name, his name, his– what is his __**name**__?_ She had literally just known it moments ago, yet she had a bit of trouble remembering it. Maybe it was Valhalla's strangeness. Well, she'd have to get used to it.

Without a steed, without a beast, he sprang clean off the beach and straight at her, startling her. Odin tripped over his own legs beneath her, but she shifted her weight and balanced him. Other horses swarmed in from the city to join her as she rode at the front, tossing up sand behind her.

_Name. Come on, his name. Remember his name, girl, come on. You can do it_.

One of the flying beasts cut him off and knocked him out of the air. Hitting the sand shoulder-first in what had to be a painful landing, he nevertheless tucked and rolled with it, ending up on his feet. A beam of pink energy blazed through the swarm; Odin leapt over it and nickered, sounding concerned.

Then there was a meteor bearing down on them, and she suddenly agreed with Odin.

He was so powerful. Certainly powerful enough to kill her if she dropped her guard for an _instant_– but she rather admired it, dodging flaming meteorites and rocks bursting out of the ground, gee-forces finally tugging her off her mount to almost faceplant on a rock below. Gravity was completely out of whack: she landed on her feet and leapt at her blade, embedded when she'd accidentally let it go, swung round, and let go. Gravity fought with itself, "down" won out, and she was falling again, and fast.

She remembered his name, and it shot to her lips. She shouted, and didn't know why.

A confusing few seconds later, and she saw his face as she clashed face-to-face for the first time with him. He could keep up. His footwork was perfect. His reflexes scared her to death. Centuries of knowledge easily conquered her short twenty-one years, newfound power or not, and to her shock, though she hid it, she swung, and he caught it in one hand with insane, envious ease.

He _caught_ it.

To say the least, she was a little impressed.

Before her insult fell from her lips, she looked at him, trying to imprint the face of her mortal enemy in her mind. His eyes were dark – a blue, or a purple, it was hard to tell in this light – and his skin bronze, hair just past the shoulders and layered, dark blue – or dark purple – in color, lighter at the tips, with a faint smirk on his lips. The words came, and his smirk only widened. Despite this being a moment of life or death, peace or chaos, her heart still missed a beat. Then another. Her veins shriveled and her blood grew cold. At the same time his eyes, totally unconcerned, came up to hers and she saw him proper, her blood pressure shot skyward.

_He's... he's __**beautiful**_.

Rival, enemy, antagonist, whatever he was, she couldn't miss that fact. She wasn't normally attracted to a man, even for an instant, but this– what was wrong with this? It wouldn't hurt her mission. It wouldn't make her forget anything. It wouldn't make her ignorant. It was just acknowledging a fact of reality. Nothing more. For all she knew, it was a trick he was pulling on her, but it wouldn't work.

Bu after years spent holding all her emotions in, pushing all her potential relationships away, putting work ahead of life, her family, and herself… here, in a timeless realm, a singularity, a world between worlds, it felt kind of good to let herself go.

* * *

_Is that her?_

Standing in the glowing blue sea, briefly forgetting his anguish, he took a moment to squint through the storm-darkened twilight at the pale figure on the balcony high above. Having arrived in Valhalla after her, he had caught a glimpse of her going into the great towering temple in the center of the city with the mechanical steed at her heels like a loyal dog, happily trotting along. Her, with her pink hair and warrior's gate… he knew she'd be trouble, and perhaps the sociopathic Etro had chosen wisely. For once.

He called out his challenge and swung his ancient blade hard and fast enough to stir the sea, sending up waves all around him as though the approaching storm thrashed the water, taunting her, waiting to see what she would do… but also curious, hoping she'd come down and let him get a look at the face of his enemy.

The familiar smirk curved his lips.

_Come, brave warrior, and show me what you can do against the waves of chaos._

When he slashed out a blaze of energy, Odin nimbly leapt over it. Beasts swarmed around him; he knocked them away, crushing some of them underfoot with the crack of splitting carapaces, then found himself immobile in a block of ice he quickly worked to break out of. At the last second, he waited, and the creature responsible, the one called Nix, lashed out, and he caught her and tossed her into her sister, where they toppled away like ragdolls.

_Is that your __**best**__?_

Meteorites missed. Rocks torn out of the earth only gave her stepping stones. Intrigued by her agility, he decided to wait. Besides, if she got close enough, he could see her properly.

It had been many centuries since he had had a good fight. Everyone was so far beneath him in terms of power that he always had to hold back if he didn't want to kill them. This one looked like she could keep up with him, and soon she was falling toward him out of the sky, blocking his energy blast, landing behind him. In moments they were clashing, the gravity well having burst, the islands crumbling and falling out of the sky. Swords crashed and metal rang on metal, her armor making a distinct sound that annoyed him. Still all he could see was flying pink hair and pale skin – she moved too fast_._

He rather liked that, even though it was unpleasant if she managed to decapitate him. Feeling his body pull itself back together after being torn to pieces was… _unpleasant_.

She barely kept up with his footwork, which he had had over a millennium to perfect, but what she lacked in experience she made up for in agility. Nimble as a fox, dancing on her toes, feinting left and right, hair flying, the lightning of the storm giving her a fierce backdrop, she stayed just out of reach–

Then she swung, making what would hav been a fatal error if he'd wanted, and he easily caught her blade.

It dug into his hand, but the armor protected his palm.

His eyes came up from the blade as he gazed steadily at the face of his enemy. Her hair was long, just past the shoulders, and pink with faint golden highlights. She had pale skin, with eyes as blue as the skies of his home in the distant past, lips slender and flushed pink, cheeks also flushed crimson, and her eyes were fierce. There was no doubt in his mind she was evaluating him and daring him to slip up.

_She's... __**beautiful**__._

Even having seen hundreds, even thousands, of women over the centuries, this one was still exactly that. It was not just her appearance, but everything else with it. Even her armor only served to accentuate her beauty despite its obvious practicality. There was nothing wrong with admitting it. Her presence wouldn't make him forget what he was here to do, or make him hesitant, or ignorant. It was just a fact of reality. For all he knew, she would just play games with him and eventually make him hate her.

But after so many centuries of walking that endless path into infinity, and now having found himself in a place without time as any man could understand it, seeing the ebb and flow of time in his head, feeling it shift around him like the waves of this alien land, it felt kind of good to let himself go.

* * *

_So, I've always kind of thought that Caius may have been flirting with Lightning a little in the beginning of the game, and this is the sort of silliness that came out of that. Thanks for reading!_


End file.
